Where Does Hand Pain Come From?
When it comes to hand pain, the site of the pain is hardly ever the source of the pain.
If you are dealing with hand pain, you are most likely also dealing with a disconnect between your load bearing joints. Your body has eight major joints that bear your weight — the shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles. In the case of hand pain, it’s likely that these joints have lost their ability to bear your weight properly in the vertical position.
With today’s exercise, known as “wall clock,” we are going to get the shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles to begin talking to each other again. You will need to practice this exercise at least once per day for it to make a lasting difference. But I am confident that if your hand pain has to do with these joints, that regular practice of this exercise will have a positive impact.
How to Do the Wall Clock Exercise
Begin by standing, facing a wall, with your toes pointed inward (pigeon-toed) and your forehead against the wall. Then, perform positions one through three below.
Position 1: Raise your arms straight up (zero degrees).
- Relax your stomach to allow your hips to tilt forward.
- Curl your fingers into the pads of your palms and stick your thumbs out like you are hitchhiking. We are going to call this the golfer’s-grip position, this should remain tight for the duration of the exercise.
- Rotate your thumbs and arms outward from the shoulder (try to turn the back of your hand toward the wall).
- Drop your shoulders down and rotate from the shoulder. Tighten your thigh muscles.
- Hold for 1 minute.
Position 2: Lower your arms down to 45 degrees.
- Repeat the outward rotation from position 1, maintaining the same, tight golfer’s-grip position.
- Hold for 1 minute.
Position 3: Lower your arms to 90 degrees (straight out from your shoulders, parallel to the floor).
- Repeat the outward rotation of your arms from the shoulders.
- Hold for 1 minute.
After completing the wall clock exercise, you can expect to feel lighter and taller due to the improvements you have made to the position of the eight load-bearing joints we talked about earlier. For greatest effect, be sure to breathe, relax your belly, and focus on correct form.
